Igor Zhelezovski
Olympic medal record | ||
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Men’s speed skating | ||
Representing ![]() | ||
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1988 Calgary | 1,000 m |
Representing ![]() | ||
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1994 Lillehammer | 1,000 m |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Igor_Zjelezovski.jpg/200px-Igor_Zjelezovski.jpg)
Igor Nikolayevich Zhelezovski (Russian: Игорь Николаевич Железовский) (born 1 July 1963 in Orsha, Belarus) is a former speed skater, considered to be one of the best sprinters ever, which resulted in his nickname "Igor the Terrible". Originally competing for the Soviet Union, then for the Commonwealth of Independent States, and finally for Belarus, he became World Sprint Champion a record number of six times, a record still unequalled as of[update] (and including the Championships of) 2007. In Soviet times, he trained at Armed Forces sports society in Minsk.
Igor Zhelezovski won silver at the World Junior Allround Championships in 1982. Specialising in the sprint, he became World Sprint Champion in 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1993. He finished eighth in the 1987 edition, having just recovered from an illness, and decided to skip the 1988 edition in favour of preparing for the Winter Olympics in Calgary that same year. These, however, turned out to be a disappointment for him, finishing sixth on the 500 m, "only" third on his favourite 1,000 m, and fourth on the 1,500 m. The remaining two World Sprint Championships he participated in, in 1990 and 1994, he finished third and sixth, respectively.
His final two seasons, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Zhelezovski skated for Belarus. After ending his skating career in 1994, Zhelezovski became president of the skating union of Belarus, a position he held for several years.
Medals
An overview of medals won by Zhelezovski at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:
Championships | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
---|---|---|---|
Winter Olympics | – | 1994 (1,000 m) | 1988 (1,000 m) |
World Sprint | 1985 1986 1989 1991 1992 1993 |
– | 1990 |
World Cup | 1991 (1,000 m) 1992 (1,000 m) 1993 (1,000 m) |
– | 1993 (500 m) 1994 (1,000 m) |
World Junior Allround | – | 1982 | – |
Soviet Allround | – | – | – |
Soviet Sprint | 1985 1986 1989 1990 1991 |
– | 1984 |
World records
Over the course of his career, Zhelezovski skated four world records, one of which equalled Pavel Pegov's six year old world record on the 1,000 m:
Event | Result | Date | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
1,500 m | 1:54.26 | 26 March 1983 | Medeo |
1,500 m | 1:52.50 | 5 December 1987 | Calgary |
1,000 m | 1:12.58 | 25 February 1989 | Heerenveen |
Sprint combination | 145.945 | 26 February 1989 | Heerenveen |
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Zhelezovski skated his personal records.
Event | Result | Date | Venue | WR |
---|---|---|---|---|
500 m | 36.49 | 21 December 1985 | Medeo | 36.57 |
1,000 m | 1:12.58 | 25 February 1989 | Heerenveen | 1:12.58 |
1,500 m | 1:52.50 | 5 December 1987 | Calgary | 1:52.70 |
3,000 m | 4:12.85 | 9 January 1988 | Davos | 3:59.27 |
5,000 m | 7:09.84 | 25 March 1983 | Medeo | 6:54.66 |
10,000 m | 15:40.82 | 26 March 1983 | Medeo | 14:23.59 |
Big combination | 166.201 | 26 March 1983 | Medeo | 162.973 |
Note that Zhelezovski's personal record on the 500 m was not a recognised as a world record by the International Skating Union (ISU).
Zhelezovski has an Adelskalender score of 164.015 points.
References
- Igor Zhelezovski at SkateResults.com
- Igor Zhelezovski. Deutsche Eisschnelllauf Gemeinschaft e.V. (German Skating Association).
- Personal records from Jakub Majerski's Speedskating Database
- Evert Stenlund's Adelskalender pages
- Results of Championships of Russia and the USSR from SpeedSkating.ru
- Historical World Records. International Skating Union.
- 1963 births
- Living people
- People from Orsha
- Soviet speed skaters
- Belarusian speed skaters
- Olympic speed skaters of the Soviet Union
- Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union
- Olympic speed skaters of the Unified Team
- Olympic speed skaters of Belarus
- Olympic silver medalists for Belarus
- Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics
- Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics
- Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
- Spartak athletes
- Olympic medalists in speed skating
- Former world record holders in speed skating